>> live and in hd, this is abc 7 breaking news. >> we begin with breaking news. just and wolf is back in a prince william county courtroom. -- justin worlfe. >> looking at freedom for the first time in 11 years after being convicted in a drug crime. now the latest with jeff. >> a lot happening in this case

right now. we want to get you caught up. last week's ruling from a circuit court judge in virginia, said that he should be freed no later than tomorrow, saying the prosecution failed to prove its case against him and then he should be freed. currently in the building behind me there is a hearing going on about his case. two major developments. special prosecutor's office from fairfax county are arguing that he should be retried on other charges in related to that crime. they argue it was not covered in the order issued by the judge last week. the other big development happening is in the fourth circuit, ken cuccinelli the attorney general for the state of virginia, is arguing that the appeal for the decision from last week should go forward. they say that he's guilty and should continue to be tried and they are arguing for an appeal. if the appeal is denied in the fourth circuit, ken cuccinelli says he may take the case to the u.s. supreme court.

a lot of things happening and a lot of tension in the courtroom particularly from the prisoner's family. more at 5:00 tonight. virginia. >> thank you. following another story. congress has passed a deal which now reverts the fiscal cliff. >> than since the dow jones sorry for the first time in weeks, but not everyone is happy with the deal. as brianne carter reports some lawmakers are concerned the new agreement will leave us worse off than before. >> a surge on wall street after congress finally reached a fiscal deal late tuesday night. on this thursday in trading of the new year, the dow jones jumped more than 200 points. >> this lot is just one step in the broader effort to strengthen our economy and broaden opportunities for everybody. >> the measure now headed to the president's desk and will prevent income tax increases and workers -- on workers earning

less than $400,000 year-end extend unemployment benefits. but the bill does not include a speextending the social security tax cut. workers will now pay to% more in social security taxes. >> what we are really doing is raising taxes to give the president or money to spend. we think that's a bad idea. >> are members on the hill say that this was not a perfect or permanent fix but they're glad a deal is done. others say this is just the beginning of tackling the fiscal problems. a virginia congressman, jim moran, one of 16 democrats who did not vote for the bill. he says this year will see a dramatically shrinking government. >> this is a new day and it's not a bright day. i am afraid that this is kicking the can down the road. the problem is each time you do that, it gets heavier. >> he says this could lead to another fiscal cliff.

automatic across-the-board spending cuts to the pentagon and other agencies will be in up in months. and the debt ceiling deal will be reached in two months if congress does not act. jim moran is not confident working out a deal will be easy. >> just increasing the deficit by $3.90 trillion, which will now force us to dramatically street the size of government and that will have an adverse impact on the washington area. >> the president returns to hawaii, so it's not clear when he will sign the bill. brianne carter reporting. >> secretary of state hillary clinton continues to recover from public clocked at a new york hospital. she was last seen in public three weeks ago before she fainted and was fossilized with a concussion. doctors ran some scans which revealed the blood clots between her brain and her skull. the good news is they say there will likely be no long-lasting neurological damage.

>> today is the first day back to school for the students of sandy hook elementary. there are attending open house at every purpose of building in monroe conn. will start class tomorrow. workers and teachers have been getting the area ready after painting and setting up classrooms. children have not been in school since last month's shooting the left 20 students and 62 is dead. >> a middle school in anne arundel county is closed for the rest of the day after our boiler exploded. this happened this morning at bates middle school on chase street in annapolis. two men in their fifties were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. no students injured. the exact cause of the explosion is under investigation. greg traffic is moving again after a bomb scare closed are road in vienna this morning. fairfax county crews were called out to a store on maple avenue after finding what looks like a hand grenade in the parking lot. jummy olabanji has the story. >> you can see the fairfax

county bomb squad on the scene this morning investigating the grenade police. used their robots to retrieve the device can get it to a safe location. this started just before 7:30 this morning when vienna police say an employee of the merchant tire store down the grenade outside the doors appear building. once they determine it was real, they call the fairfax county bomb squad. news of the active investigation quickly spread through this tiny town. >> you gotta be kidding? it is bizarre. >> as police investigated, they shut down all four lanes of maple avenue. normally busy rush-hour traffic was halted. >> all the back roads are full. [inaudible] >> all lanes of 123 are back open. they had been shut down several hours. the 10 and fairfax county police

investigated. people living in this town tell us all of the police activity is out of the norm. >> this is small town america. >> in a short amount of time, police were able to determine the grenade was injured, but that does not mean the investigation is over. -- was inert. >> after everything calm down, we will be able to get interviews going. >> jummy olabanji reporting from vienna. >> we have had some relatively warm temperatures this past two days, all the things considered. nelson colder air is moving in. if let's get to jacqui jeras for the forecast. >> it is kind of deceiving out there. it looks beautiful with lots of sunshine after a very cloudy start this morning. we had a wintry mix in southern maryland and across the delmarva peninsula. all that has pushed out. skies will continue clearing. mostly sunny this afternoon.

temperatures have formed up barely. we are in the mid 30's across the region. we will only move up a couple degrees. then travel conditions will improve up and down the eastern seaboard as skies cleared. looking for to a more tranquil weather pattern. your forecast, mostly sunny, 41 degrees at 3:00, 35 degrees at 6:00, and 29 degrees at 11:00 tonight. wait until you see tomorrow morning temperature. it will be cold. details in just another few minutes. >> we will be ready. thank you. if one person is dead after a fire at a trailer in maryland city at 8:30 this morning. quickly turned into a massive blaze. john gonzalez has the latest. >> this has been an extremely challenging fire. in anne arundel county, a long stretch of rock creek road was shut down because firefighters had to roll out hundreds and

hundreds of feet of hose to get to the burning home. >> over the top of the roof and coming out the window. >> you can see the magnitude of this deadly fire in maryland city. residents of the parkway village trailer park started hearing not only the sound of flames ripping through the double wide mobile home but also the sound of live ammunition going off. >> my husband said the trailer is walking behind us and people came running out of the house. he went over there to try to see. >> inside was an elderly residents and two dogs. the parents are unaccounted for this afternoon. the man was killed. even before help arrived, his neighbor and another man tried going in with a garden hose. >> there was heavy black smoke and it was burned down to the floor. you could start hearing the gunshots ground's going off as we went in. so we backed out. >> the man believed to be in his

seventies was a gun collector. the rounds going off or a big talent and firefighters are ready deal with heavy smoke and narrow roads with no fire hydrants. the woman owns the house is busily distraught. -- visibly distraught. >> neighbors are concerned it might be connected to a far down the street two days ago. it's early to say what caused the fires inside the trailer park home. detectives are still going through the burn down home today trying to figure out if it even had working smoke alarms. in maryland city, john gonzalez, abc 7 news. >> the prince george county teacher is in court today facing accusations he sexually abused a 13-year-old girl. king was arrested last month and charged with sex abuse against a minor. according to court documents, he was a teacher at a middle school in fort washington. the alleged abuse took place during the last school year.

he's on administrative leave. two men accused in the attack of a d.c. man near eastern market were back in court this morning for a status hearing. they are accused of severely beating t.c. maslin for his cellphone last august. both suspects are held without bond. >> a new beginning in d.c. as city council opens a new session. the swearing-in ceremony today at the washington convention center for the six council members beginning four-year terms. an organizational meeting will be later today at the wilson building. >> people will live in d.c. are getting a little money back on their water bills. the city's water and sewer authorities say customers can expect a one time rebates averaging a little more than $9. payments could start as early as this month. the agency says it reduced costs over the past year and still the best thing to do with the money is getting back to customers. >> many people will agree. redskins playoff fever is heating up. four days from their first

playoff game against the seahawks. the burgundy and gold practicing right now at redskins park getting ready for sunday's battle at fedex field. meantime, tailgating tickets go fans will pay big bucks for the tickets. >> i will pay $50. that's what a person pays for concert. >> the typical one is a thousand dollars. if you want to curtail state in the parking lot, expect to spend about $100. coming up on abc 7 news, everyone with a sweet tooth, listen. a new study shows sugar can rewire your brain for the worst. >> and the united nations has released an estimate of how deadly the syrian conflict has been. >> remember the royal family rang in the new room, a daring rescue at sea. >>-- rank in the new year.

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>> you are watching abc 7 "news at noon," on your side. we will be right backith scott thuman and cynne simpson is off. >> more than 60,000 people have been killed in the civil war in syria. the death toll is truly shocking. they're blaming the international community for failing to step in and stop the violence. rebel forces tried to overthrow bashar al-assad's regime, is how the conflict started. experts william was on a rescue.

after midnight the heir to the british throne was in a helicopter as he responded to a call about a 41-year-old man swept out to sea while walking his dog in england in blackpool. they braved 50-mile-per-hour winds as they frantically searched for the man. he said in the past that he believes his job is important. >> it's great to go out and actually save someone's life, hopefully, or search for someone when you know they are in trouble. >> sadly, this rescue effort failed. coast guard has now called off the search. >> and espn anchor is back on the air after an accident. she posted a 124 rose parade in pasadena that aired on new year's day. this year's parade marked her return to work after a propane gas explosion three weeks ago at her home in connecticut.

storm suffered first and second- degree burns to her face, chest neck, and hands. the only visible evidence of that was abandoned left hand, on the broadcast. we're glad to see her back. she looks amazing. >> she said she had to put on a wig and eyebrows pentagon and eyelashes because she lost all that in the fire. so glad she's doing ok now. >> absolutely. as we have seen a change in the weather. it's colder. >> and alaska always we have seen some changes as well. we expect to seen ample sunshine this afternoon after a very cloudy start. a beautiful sunrise to show you. starting at about 6:00 this morning, this is a time lapse from our fairfax camera. you can see the clouds we had. beautiful sunrise with some high, thin clouds left over and. now 36 degrees.

mostly clear skies at this time. but there's a northwest wind at 10 miles an hour now. that is ushering in the cool air from the north and giving us a wind chill factor. even though the thermometer says temperatures korengal are in the low to mid 30's for the most part, it feels like the 28 0's. we will only move up a few degrees from where we are now. with the north wind it will be tough to warm up even with sunshine. much cooler air to our north and west. we are missing out on that blasts, but we are cooler than we had been. we're coming off a record 2012. the statement released from the national weather service, our average temperature was off 61.5 degrees. that beats a 30-year average by more than a 3 degrees, which is significant that. is indicative of a climate like atlanta, oklahoma city, or san jose, to put it in perspective.

hard to think about that for today. looking at futurecast, you can see pretty much everyone clear in the afternoon. martin a little area of cloudiness of moving into night. our temperatures will be dropping. tomorrow morning will be cold. here's your forecast for today mostly sunny skies, high between and 36 and 42. tonight, partly cloudy skies. low temperature of 22 to 26. bundle up tomorrow morning. tomorrow will be the coldest day of the week. highs in the upper 30's. partly cloudy skies throughout the day. then we will start warming up a little towards the weekend and early next week's we will finally tipped the scales a little. our average high this time of year is 43 degrees. >> look at tuesday. possibly 50. >> looking forward to that. >> a week away. we will get there. >> thank you.

coming up on abc 7 news, news for anyone with a sweep through. >> candy and soda and can trigger changes in you

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> 7 is on your side with this noon with important health information for this week lovers out there. >> it turns out your favorite candy or soda could trigger changes in your brain that could lead to overheating. researchers have found drinking a beverage with fructose, causes the brain not to register the feeling of being full. if researchers admit so for the study is small, but they say it

does add evidence that sugary drinks and foods can be factors in obesity. rex davis budget is purchasing the urban car sharing services zipcar. the deal announced today, davis has agreed to purchase it for half a billion dollars. it requires final approval from zipcar shareholders. but a companies expect the acquisition to be completed in the spring. zipcar will act as a subsidiary of a vis. >> sales of american made cars should top 50 million in 2013 7% more than 2012 and the strongest sales forecast since 2007. it depends on spending cuts being debated on capitol hill. jacqui jeras will be back with a final look at the weather next.

>> of the clock 26 a breaking development from reporter jeff school board. he tells us there has been the decision that has come out of the courtroom that if the appeal is denied by the fourth circuit judge, then wolfe can be released by 5:00 p.m. thursday. we will continue to follow this. >> this is an icy water rescue caught on camera. amen. plunges into a frozen lake while sledding on christmas day in california. people came to his aid and fell in the freezing water as well.

fortunately, after several minutes, everyone was rescued by another group of people using rope and inner tubes as opposed to going in after the people. there were lucky to have made it out of that. >> jacqui jeras showed one the other day. >> yes. thinking of being on that ice is scary. if it looks the pick and rolhick and blue tried and true. the weather, high temperature 41 degrees this afternoon, but it feels colder. tomorrow morning the middle twenties to wake up to. tomorrow will be the coldest day of the wheat. >> but we will warm up. thanks for joining us.